History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Daniel F. Miller
DANIEL F. MILLER was born in Allegheny County, Maryland, October 14, 1814. He studied law in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he practiced until 1839 when he removed to Iowa Territory, locating at Fort Madison. He was elected a member of the Third Legislative Assembly in 1840. In 1848 he was the Whig candidate for Representative in Congress in the First District. His Democratic opponent was Colonel William Thompson, who was declared by the canvassers elected. The decision was contested in the House by Miller and the seat was declared vacant. At a special election to fill the vacancy Miller was elected and served the remainder of the term. Mr. Miller was one of the founders of the Republican party and was placed at the head of the ticket for presidential elector. For the first time in the history of the State its vote was cast against the Democratic candidate for President. In 1860 Mr. Miller was an independent candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court but was defeated by Judge Wright the Republican candidate. In 1893 Daniel F. Miller was again elected to the General Assembly, fifty-three years after his first term of service in that body. He had practiced law for fifty-four years in Iowa and was known as the “Nestor” of the Iowa bar. He died at Omaha, Nebraska, December 9, 1895, at the age of eighty-one. Coming to Iowa the year after it was made a Territory he was for fifty-five years closely identified with its political and industrial affairs and one of its most widely known lawmakers and pioneers.